The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)

by S. A. Chakraborty

Discover this spellbinding debut from S.A. Chakraborty.

'An extravagant feast of a book - spicy and bloody, dizzyingly magical, and still, somehow, utterly believable' Laini Taylor, Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling author

Among the bustling markets of eighteenth century Cairo, the city's outcasts eke out a living swindling rich Ottoman nobles and foreign invaders alike.

But alongside this new world the old stories linger. Tales of djinn and spirits. Of cities hidden among the swirling sands of the desert, full of enchantment, desire and riches. Where magic pours down every street, hanging in the air like dust.

Many wish their lives could be filled with such wonder, but not Nahri. She knows the trades she uses to get by are just tricks and sleights of hand: there's nothing magical about them. She only wishes to one day leave Cairo, but as the saying goes...

Be careful what you wish for.

Reviewed by chrishall78 on

5 of 5 stars

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I've read quite a few fantasy books over the years, but this is the first one for me with an Arabic setting and Muslim religious traditions. While the idea of a supernatural world invisible to normal humans isn't new, it does give the reader a reference point to our own world while allowing for fantasy world building at the same time.

The story revolves around Nahri, a young lady without a family in Cairo who has been forced to become a thief and con artist to survive. She has mysterious powers of self healing and can detect illnesses and cancers in the bodies of others. After accidentally summoning a djinn warrior during a zar (Egyptian ritual dance to drive away evil spirits), she's thrown into a supernatural world where she is very much in over her head.

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  • 10 January, 2020: Reviewed